Tinkering Escalates Into Annual Show

Bernice Delia Porte Van Dyke

| August/September 1990

RD#3 Box 753-E Searsville Road Montgomery, New York 12549

Our neighbor, Bucky Andrews, was one of those avid collectors of
antique engines and old farm tractors. Personally I found him to be
a little on the obsessive side, but hey, what do I know, I'm
just a city girl!

Every once in a while he would stop by with one of those
'metal monsters' and an engine or two on the back of his
truck. He and my husband, Barney, would hang out outside and talk
tractor jargon for an hour or seven.

No problem, I thought, just a passing fancy; after all, Barney
was once a farmer. Probably just dreaming of days gone by. Boy, was
I ever wrong!

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It was March when it happened. Bucky came by and asked Barney
for the 100th time to come join him and the guys for their weekly
'tinker with a tractor night.' I just figured it was that
male bonding thing we hear about so often. We'll just let it
run its course and be done with it. WRONG AGAIN! By April's end
I was the proud owner of not one but three 'metal
monsters', a Cushman Cub and a pile of assorted rusty stuff
Barney found along the way. My garage runneth over!

Now, we live in a small town, so everybody knew about
Barney's new habit. I was working in the local diner at the
time and a day didn't go by without some nut telling me where
we could get yet another tractor. They would tell me things I did
not comprehend and then give me directions to places I didn't
know existed. I was starting to feel as though this tractor thing
was a conspiracy, but I kept my cool.

It was spring time, so as word got out, more and more people
were showing up for these informal Thursday nights. One of these
men 'in his infinite wisdom' brought about the idea of
starting a tractor club with officers and by-laws. Suddenly this
was the real thing here, just like the Boy Scouts, I thought. What
next, a jamboree? Sorry I asked. Now they're going to put on
their own tractor show. Right!

So for five months they planned and argued and changed plans and
dates and argued and changed plans and dates and argued some more.
Had I been taking book on this deal I would have given 10 to 1 odds
this tractor show was not going to happen. And I would have lost my
shirt because I was wrong once again.

The day before the show everyone was at Bucky's setting up
their antiquated junk. They had tractors and hit and miss engines.
Some people brought along old farm implements. They were really
going to do this thing! Needless to say, I was dumbfounded. Their
secretary, Bob Score, had what looked like a fold-away store set up
with all kinds of drawings and cards he sells at all the shows he
attends. Now I was impressed. Then they asked me (of all people) to
write about the show. Don't ask me why I was chosen. They
probably found out I wrote a letter to the editor at the local
paper and it was published, so I figured, why not?

I got to the show at 11 a.m. and things were in full swing.
There were people everywhere and these guys didn't even
advertise. The field was crowded with tractors and engines and they
were still coming in with more. They had free wagon rides for the
little guys and tractor pulls for the big ones. Out in the field
Martin was discing and someone else hooked up a plow. Later in the
afternoon there was a tractor parade and a demonstration on how
they made feed with an old corn grinder. The concession was selling
everything from burgers to snacks all day long. And everyone seemed
to be having a great time. I walked around all day talking to all
the people and I was impressed with how friendly and informative
they were. I learned more about tractors in that one day than I had
in the last five months. I must say my whole attitude about the now
'Grand Hollow Old Time Power Association' changed.

This wasn't just about a bunch of guys showing off their
toys. These guys are trying to preserve the way of the past. They
say they're worried about what's happening to the fading
farm communities that are being swallowed up by land developers.
They build shopping malls and condos in the name of the almighty
buck and never give a second thought to the precious farm land
that's disappearing in the process. As Bob Score puts it,
'We may not be able to preserve the farm land. The best we can
hope for is to preserve the memory and maybe the values of the old
farming communities that are turning into graveyards of antiquated
junk around America today.'

So maybe you would like to join us this year for the second
annual. Now that the guys are (semi) organized, this show promises
to be better than the first. I know they're raffling off a
Cushman Cub, but God only knows what the second and third prizes
will be. Like I said, they're semi-organized. The dates (for
sure now) are Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September
16th.

On August 25th they plan to hold a demonstration at the Hill
Hold Museum in Montgomery. And they're also planning to be at
this year's Orange County Fair. Not too shabby for a bunch of
Boy Scouts, wouldn't you say?

If you need more information please call Louis Andrews (914)
778-7779 or Robert Score (914) 778-3797.

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